The print portfolio, Le café concert, was published by L’Estampe originale, one of the entrepreneurial print publishing houses that opened in Paris in the late nineteenth century. At this time, several such publishers produced original prints and posters for private collectors

The critic Gustave Geffroy described the phenomenon of the café-concert with its crude décor, yet enormous popularity:

The gas flame flickering at the door or the steady moonglow of electric light, grimacing posters and boldly lettered names, the chalk-white faces of men, the painted faces of women. Inside, the odour of beer and tobacco, chairs in closely packed rows, the orchestra rowdy and gay …

Lautrec’s prints for this portfolio capture the personality and performances of some of his favourite entertainers, including Jane Avril and Aristide Bruant.

The print portfolio, Le café concert, was published by L’Estampe originale, one of the entrepreneurial print publishing houses that opened in Paris in the late nineteenth century. At this time, several such publishers produced original prints and posters for private collectors

The critic Gustave Geffroy described the phenomenon of the café-concert with its crude décor, yet enormous popularity:

The gas flame flickering at the door or the steady moonglow of electric light, grimacing posters and boldly lettered names, the chalk-white faces of men, the painted faces of women. Inside, the odour of beer and tobacco, chairs in closely packed rows, the orchestra rowdy and gay …

Lautrec’s prints for this portfolio capture the personality and performances of some of his favourite entertainers, including Jane Avril and Aristide Bruant.

The print portfolio, Le café concert, was published by L’Estampe originale, one of the entrepreneurial print publishing houses that opened in Paris in the late nineteenth century. At this time, several such publishers produced original prints and posters for private collectors

The critic Gustave Geffroy described the phenomenon of the café-concert with its crude décor, yet enormous popularity:

The gas flame flickering at the door or the steady moonglow of electric light, grimacing posters and boldly lettered names, the chalk-white faces of men, the painted faces of women. Inside, the odour of beer and tobacco, chairs in closely packed rows, the orchestra rowdy and gay …

Lautrec’s prints for this portfolio capture the personality and performances of some of his favourite entertainers, including Jane Avril and Aristide Bruant.